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Police raided one of the city’s busiest pot shops on Tuesday, hauling away five clerks in handcuffs while a handful of demonstrators jeered.
It’s the second time the Cannabis Culture dispensary on Bank Street near Gladstone Avenue has been raided. The illegal shop closed for a day last March after police arrested five clerks for drug trafficking and hauled away the dried weed, cannabis concentrates and oils on sale.
On Tuesday, drug squad officers in balaclavas, the SWAT team and uniformed officers arrived at the shop not long after it opened at 10 a.m.
Police are raiding Cannabis Culture pot shop on Bank Street. pic.twitter.com/c9X8QgfIgN
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
Several fellow dispensary workers showed up during the raid, videotaping police and yelling insults. “How much taxpayers’ money did you waste? Are you fu**ing kidding me?” yelled one. “They should be investigating cocaine dealers!”
First 2 people led out of Cannabis Culture. pic.twitter.com/eYkUlZgGZb
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
Marijuana is an alternative to harder drugs and better than booze, said protester Blayne Farquharson, who volunteers at Cannabis Culture.
“It’s a safe, healthier alternative to opioids,” he said. “(Marijuana) needs to stop being stigmatized. The public wants these dispensaries.”
Bystander upset about raid. pic.twitter.com/8BHaj8PFfn
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
Farquharson said he opposes the Ontario government’s plan to open pot stores run by the LCBO, with the product not visible, similar to the way cigarettes are sold. “People won’t be given a choice (of stores) or see the product before they buy it.”
Leanne Wilson, a volunteer at both Cannabis Culture and CannaBliss on Preston Street, followed police officers down the street screaming at them. She said she was livid. “I’m willing to go to jail for it. I believe in it enough,” she said, comparing the cannabis cause to the fight for gay rights.
An Ottawa Police officer handcuffs a man inside Cannabis Culture as Leanne Wilson, a volunteer at the shop, seen in reflection at right, protests outside.
Nadine Grenier, who used to work at Cannabis Culture, said medical marijuana has changed her life by helping her cope with anxiety and depression. “People need the opportunity for choice, to say, ‘I know that I don’t want to take a bunch of pharmaceuticals that pollute my body.”
Grenier said she also believes people should have the right to buy cannabis at dispensaries for recreational use, too.
“I mean really, the worst than can happen to a stoner is going to be they eat some snacks and relax. Or go clean the house.”
She said she was grateful police were polite and professional, and shouldn’t be blamed for doing their jobs.
A handful of protesters jeered as police took five men into custody. Ashley Fraser, Postmedia
Customer Eric Charron, who arrived to find the shop closed, called the raid “terrible.”
Staff at Cannabis Culture are friendly and knowledgeable, he said. He appreciates not having to buy weed from street dealers. “It’s better than running out in the alleys looking for some dude you don’t know.
“The guys on the street are spraying it with chemicals to give it more weight. You can taste it.”
Charron says he doesn’t drink, and considers marijuana less harmful than alcohol. However, now that he has children himself, he doesn’t want them to begin smoking pot when they are young teenagers, like he did.
Sherry Morrison arrived in her wheelchair with a protest sign. Her son was one of the people taken into custody. Her daughter was arrested in a raid at the Weeds dispensary a few blocks away last March, and is awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges. “I think the cops are having a great time ruining people’s lives right now.”
Mom Sherry Morrison's son was taken out of Cannabis Culture in cuffs. Her daughter was arrested at Weeds raid last spring. pic.twitter.com/rII3rItNId
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
It’s the 18th raid on a pot shop in the past year. Cannabis Culture was a brand created by activists Marc and Jodi Emery, who set up a chain of franchises but were forced to bow out of the business after they were charged with trafficking. Jodi Emery tweeted during the Ottawa raid, saying the clerks were “brutally harmed & punished by excessive, unjust laws.”
Brave harmless peaceful people brutally harmed & punished by excessive, unjust laws. ?
#NoMoreMarijuanaArrests #NoPrisonForPot #PeaceAndPot pic.twitter.com/XgkmKBDYH0
— Jodie Emery (@JodieEmery) October 3, 2017
Ming Saad, a spokesperson for Cannabis Culture on Bank Street, said she did not know if it would reopen. The store had as many as 1,200 customers a day, Saad said in an earlier interview. She declined to identify the owner of the store.
jmiller@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
It’s the second time the Cannabis Culture dispensary on Bank Street near Gladstone Avenue has been raided. The illegal shop closed for a day last March after police arrested five clerks for drug trafficking and hauled away the dried weed, cannabis concentrates and oils on sale.
On Tuesday, drug squad officers in balaclavas, the SWAT team and uniformed officers arrived at the shop not long after it opened at 10 a.m.
Police are raiding Cannabis Culture pot shop on Bank Street. pic.twitter.com/c9X8QgfIgN
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
Several fellow dispensary workers showed up during the raid, videotaping police and yelling insults. “How much taxpayers’ money did you waste? Are you fu**ing kidding me?” yelled one. “They should be investigating cocaine dealers!”
First 2 people led out of Cannabis Culture. pic.twitter.com/eYkUlZgGZb
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
Marijuana is an alternative to harder drugs and better than booze, said protester Blayne Farquharson, who volunteers at Cannabis Culture.
“It’s a safe, healthier alternative to opioids,” he said. “(Marijuana) needs to stop being stigmatized. The public wants these dispensaries.”
Bystander upset about raid. pic.twitter.com/8BHaj8PFfn
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
Farquharson said he opposes the Ontario government’s plan to open pot stores run by the LCBO, with the product not visible, similar to the way cigarettes are sold. “People won’t be given a choice (of stores) or see the product before they buy it.”
Leanne Wilson, a volunteer at both Cannabis Culture and CannaBliss on Preston Street, followed police officers down the street screaming at them. She said she was livid. “I’m willing to go to jail for it. I believe in it enough,” she said, comparing the cannabis cause to the fight for gay rights.
An Ottawa Police officer handcuffs a man inside Cannabis Culture as Leanne Wilson, a volunteer at the shop, seen in reflection at right, protests outside.
Nadine Grenier, who used to work at Cannabis Culture, said medical marijuana has changed her life by helping her cope with anxiety and depression. “People need the opportunity for choice, to say, ‘I know that I don’t want to take a bunch of pharmaceuticals that pollute my body.”
Grenier said she also believes people should have the right to buy cannabis at dispensaries for recreational use, too.
“I mean really, the worst than can happen to a stoner is going to be they eat some snacks and relax. Or go clean the house.”
She said she was grateful police were polite and professional, and shouldn’t be blamed for doing their jobs.
A handful of protesters jeered as police took five men into custody. Ashley Fraser, Postmedia
Customer Eric Charron, who arrived to find the shop closed, called the raid “terrible.”
Staff at Cannabis Culture are friendly and knowledgeable, he said. He appreciates not having to buy weed from street dealers. “It’s better than running out in the alleys looking for some dude you don’t know.
“The guys on the street are spraying it with chemicals to give it more weight. You can taste it.”
Charron says he doesn’t drink, and considers marijuana less harmful than alcohol. However, now that he has children himself, he doesn’t want them to begin smoking pot when they are young teenagers, like he did.
Sherry Morrison arrived in her wheelchair with a protest sign. Her son was one of the people taken into custody. Her daughter was arrested in a raid at the Weeds dispensary a few blocks away last March, and is awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges. “I think the cops are having a great time ruining people’s lives right now.”
Mom Sherry Morrison's son was taken out of Cannabis Culture in cuffs. Her daughter was arrested at Weeds raid last spring. pic.twitter.com/rII3rItNId
— Jacquie Miller (@JacquieAMiller) October 3, 2017
It’s the 18th raid on a pot shop in the past year. Cannabis Culture was a brand created by activists Marc and Jodi Emery, who set up a chain of franchises but were forced to bow out of the business after they were charged with trafficking. Jodi Emery tweeted during the Ottawa raid, saying the clerks were “brutally harmed & punished by excessive, unjust laws.”
Brave harmless peaceful people brutally harmed & punished by excessive, unjust laws. ?
— Jodie Emery (@JodieEmery) October 3, 2017
Ming Saad, a spokesperson for Cannabis Culture on Bank Street, said she did not know if it would reopen. The store had as many as 1,200 customers a day, Saad said in an earlier interview. She declined to identify the owner of the store.
jmiller@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
